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Science and Technology/Engineering > Grade 8 > Life Science
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Science and Technology/Engineering | Grade : 8

Discipline - Life Science

Core Idea - From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes

[8.LS.1.5] - Construct an argument based on evidence for how environmental and genetic factors influence the growth of organisms. Clarification Statements: Examples of environmental conditions could include availability of food, light, space, and water. Examples of genetic factors could include the genes responsible for size differences in different breeds of dogs, such as Great Danes and Chihuahuas. Examples of environmental factors could include drought decreasing plant growth, fertilizer increasing plant growth, and fish growing larger in large ponds than they do in small ponds. Examples of both genetic and environmental factors could include different varieties of plants growing at different rates in different conditions. State Assessment Boundary: Methods of reproduction, genetic mechanisms, gene regulation, biochemical processes, or natural selection are not expected in state assessment.

Resources:

Predecessor Standards:

  • 3.LS.3.2
    Distinguish between inherited characteristics and those characteristics that result from a direct interaction with the environment. Give examples of characteristics of living organisms that are influenced by both inheritance and the environment. Clarification Statements: Examples of the environment affecting a characteristic could include normally tall plants stunted because they were grown with insufficient water or light, a lizard missing a tail due to a predator, and a pet dog becoming overweight because it is given too much food and little exercise; Focus should be on non-human examples.
  • 3.LS.4.3
    Construct an argument with evidence that in a particular environment some organisms can survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive. Clarification Statement: Examples of evidence could include needs and characteristics of the different organisms (species) and habitats involved.

Successor Standards:

  • HS.LS.3.3
    Apply concepts of probability to represent possible genotype and phenotype combinations in offspring caused by different types of Mendelian inheritance patterns. Clarification Statements: Representations can include Punnett squares, diagrams, pedigree charts, and simulations. Inheritance patterns include dominant-recessive, codominance, incomplete dominance, and sex-linked.

Same Level Standards:

  • WCA.6-8.1
    Write arguments focused on discipline-specific content.
  • 8.F.B.5
    Describe qualitatively the functional relationship between two quantities by analyzing a graph (e.g., where the function is increasing or decreasing, linear or nonlinear). Sketch a graph that exhibits the qualitative features of a function that has been described verbally.
  • 8.LS.3.3
    Communicate through writing and in diagrams that chromosomes contain many distinct genes and that each gene holds the instructions for the production of specific proteins, which in turn affects the traits of an individual. State Assessment Boundary: Specific changes at the molecular level or mechanisms for protein synthesis are not expected in state assessment.